Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

Here are scenes from today's stage of the Tour de France. The stage was a team time trial, which means that each team of nine riders goes off separately. The team's time is taken from the fifth rider to cross the line, so it's important that only four riders get dropped along the way. Each individual gets the time of the team, unless he was dropped, in which case he gets his actual time. The winner of the team time trial was BMC Racing Team, which averaged 32.37 miles per hour for 17.39 miles. Given the hilliness of the course, the average speed is incredible. Tomorrow is a rest day. American Tejay Van Garderen is second overall, 12 seconds behind Chris Froome of Great Britain.

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To the Editor:

As an African-American, I found the July 3 Op-Ed column by Donovan X. Ramsey offensive and petty (“We Need Obama to Speak for Us, Not at Us”). President Obama has said far more to black Americans than browbeating us about fatherhood.

First of all, black people are Americans, so when the president speaks about all issues, he is speaking to black America, be it on foreign policy, health care, energy or trade.

In addition, his work on the My Brother’s Keeper program, his campaign speech in Philadelphia on race and his speech on the anniversary of the Selma march are just a few other much richer examples. The president does not need to prove his black bona fides to anyone, much less black America.

GERALD HARRIS

San Francisco

Note from KBJ: If Barack Obama needs to speak to black America, then he needs to speak to (1) white America (since he's half white), (2) skinny America, (3) heterosexual America, (4) left-handed America, and (5) incompetent America. Same logic.

Here are scenes from today's stage of the Tour de France. The winner, Alexis Vuillermoz of France, averaged 25.93 miles per hour for 112.7 miles. Here is video of the final kilometer, which was uphill. Former Tour winner Chris Froome of Great Britain is the overall leader after the first week of racing.

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Spys (1982). I've always loved this album. Two members of Spys were original members of Foreigner.

To the Editor:

Congress created Medicare 50 years ago to provide seniors with health care, giving them protection against financial ruin and peace of mind. Five years ago Congress could have and should have extended Medicare to cover all Americans, creating a single-payer system with the much freer choice of doctors and hospitals that seniors enjoy. Instead, it passed the hopelessly complex Affordable Care Act, which has kept the wasteful and bureaucratic insurance industry in health care and left millions uninsured and millions more with woefully inadequate coverage. It has also cost far more than simply extending Medicare.

It is well known that people without insurance or with high deductibles wait longer to seek medical care; thus their illnesses or problems become more difficult to treat. And sometimes they die because they have no insurance (an estimated 50,000 every year). Those with Medicare have more protection against the devastating effects of illness and injury, get more help overcoming or living with disabilities, and are protected against financial ruin.

“Equal protection” has been used, with some success, to improve access to education and, now, to allow same-sex couples to marry. It seems that an even stronger case can be made regarding access to health care—which is considered a rightin every other developed nation.

ANN TROY

San Rafael, Calif.

The writer is a pediatrician.

Note from KBJ: I don't understand people's faith in government. How many of you have good experiences at the United States Postal Service or the Department of Motor Vehicles? This is what health care will be like if and when it's taken over by government. It will be a nightmare. And yes, Sarah Palin was right: There will be death panels.